Commonly Asked Questions

Answer:

A Court authorized this notice because you have a right to know about a proposed settlement in several lawsuits against Target and all of your options before the Court decides whether to give final approval to the settlement. This notice explains the nature of the lawsuits, the general terms of the settlement, and your legal rights and obligations.

The lawsuits were brought on behalf of consumers whose credit/debit card information or personal information was stolen as a result of the Target Data Breach. Judge Paul A. Magnuson of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota is overseeing this litigation. The litigation is known as In re: Target Corporation Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, No. 14-2522. The people who sued are called the “Plaintiffs.” Target is the “Defendant.”

Answer:

On December 19, 2013, Target announced that it had been the victim of a criminal attack on its computer network by third-party intruders who stole payment card data from Target shoppers who shopped at Target from November 27 through December 18, 2013. The intruders also stole personal information, such as email and home addresses from other Target customers. Plaintiffs claim that Target did not adequately protect their payment card data and personal information and that Target delayed in providing notice of the data breach.

Target denies any wrongdoing, and no court or other entity has made any judgment or other determination of any wrongdoing.

Answer:

In a class action, one or more people called “class representatives” sue on behalf of themselves and other people with similar claims. All of these people together are the “class” or “class members.” One court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the settlement class.

Answer:

The Court has not decided in favor of Plaintiffs or Target. Instead, both sides agreed to a settlement. Settlements avoid the costs and uncertainty of a trial and related appeals, while providing benefits to members of the Settlement Class. Settlement Class Representatives and the attorneys for the Settlement Class (“Settlement Class Counsel,” see Question 15) think the settlement is best for all Settlement Class Members.

Answer:

You are a member of the Settlement Class and affected by the settlement if your credit/debit card information and/or your personal information was stolen as a result of the Target Data Breach.

You are a member of the Settlement Class if:

You shopped at a Target store and used your credit or debit card from November 27 through December 18, 2013;

You provided your contact information to Target any time before December 18, 2013; or

Your bank, credit card company, or other financial institution issued you a new credit or debit card shortly after December 2013; and the letter accompanying the new card said that your old card may have been compromised.

If you received a notice directly about the Target Data Breach, you are a Class Member.

Answer:

Target will pay $10 million into a Settlement Fund to make payments to eligible Settlement Class Members and service payments to the Settlement Class Representatives (see Question 16). Target has also agreed to pay attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses (see Question 16) and the costs of notifying the class and administering the settlement.

In addition, Target will change its business practices relating to its information security program, including naming a high-level executive to coordinate the program, maintaining a written information security program, maintaining processes for managing information security risks and responding to events determined to present a threat, and providing security training to relevant Target employees. A more detailed description of these changes is available in the Settlement Agreement which is available on this Website.

Answer:

Each member of the Settlement Class can choose between two types of benefits. If you have documentation, you can receive reimbursement of losses up to $10,000. If you do not have documentation you may be eligible for an equal share of the Settlement Fund after payment of claims for documented losses and service payments to Settlement Class Representatives (see Question 6). The amount of the equal share for all Settlement Class Members who submit valid claims without documentation will depend on: a) the amount the Court awards as service payments to the Settlement Class Representatives; b) the amount paid out for claims supported by documentation; and c) the number of valid claims.

For example, if the amount the Court awards as service payments plus the amount of documentary claims add up to a total of $1,000,000, and 300,000 Settlement Class Members submit valid claims without documentation, each of these Settlement Class Members will receive an equal $30 share of the Settlement Fund. These amounts are only examples. The amount of actual payments will depend on the amount of claims received.

Answer:

To get a payment, you will need to submit a Claim Form on this Website by July 31, 2015 or submit a Claim Form by mail, which must be postmarked by July 31, 2015. The Claim Form is available in the Claim Form link on this website, or you may request a copy by calling 1-866-680-5931.

Answer:

If you submitted a complete, accurate, valid, and timely Claim Form, the Settlement Administrator will send your payment to you after all appeals and other reviews have been exhausted. On November 17, 2015, the Court granted Plaintiffs’ Motion for Approval of Settlement but payments for claims can only be made after any appeals are resolved and claims are finalized. At this time, we do not yet know if there will be any appeals and how long it will take before we can begin paying claims. Please be patient and refer to the website for updates.

Answer:

Unless you exclude yourself from the settlement, you can’t sue Target or be part of any other lawsuit against Target about the issues this settlement resolves. Unless you exclude yourself, all of the decisions by the Court will bind you. The specific claims you are giving up against Target are described in Section 6 of the Settlement Agreement. You will be “releasing” Target and all related people as described in Section 1.13 of the Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement is available on this Website.

The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions, so read it carefully. If you have any questions, you can talk to the law firm listed in Question 15 for free, or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer if you have questions about what this means.

Answer:

To exclude yourself from the settlement, you must send a letter by U.S. Mail saying that you wish to do so. Your “Request for Exclusion” must include:

The name of this proceeding (In re: Target Corporation Customer Data Security Breach Litigation or similar identifying words);

Your name and address;

The words “Request for Exclusion” at the top of the document or a statement requesting exclusion from the Class; and

Your signature.

You must mail your exclusion request, postmarked no later than July 31, 2015, to:

Target Data Breach Settlement
P.O. Box 2239
Faribault, MN 55021-1639

You cannot exclude yourself by telephone or by email. You cannot exclude yourself by mailing a request to any other location or after the deadline. Your Request for Exclusion must be signed by you, personally, and not your lawyer or anyone else acting on your behalf.

Answer:

Answer:

Yes. The Court appointed Vincent J. Esades of Heins Mills & Olson PLC as Lead Counsel for the Class. As part of preliminary approval of the settlement, the Court appointed Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel and five other firms to represent you and other Settlement Class Members as “Settlement Class Counsel.” You will not be charged by these lawyers for their work on the case. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

Answer:

Settlement Class Counsel will ask the Court for attorneys’ fees and costs up to $6,750,000. The Court will decide the fees and costs to be paid, and they will be paid by Target. Any payment will not reduce the benefits provided to the Settlement Class.

Settlement Class Counsel will also ask the Court for service payments of up to $500 for each of the Settlement Class Representatives for helping the lawyers on behalf of the Settlement Class. Settlement Class Counsel will seek an additional payment of up to $500 for the three Settlement Class Representatives who Target deposed. These payments will be paid out of the Settlement Fund. The Settlement Class Representatives and Settlement Class Counsel will make their requests to the Court for attorneys’ fees and costs and service payments on or before July10, 2015. These requests will be available on this Website or you can request a copy by contacting the Settlement Administrator.

Answer:

If you’re a Settlement Class Member, you can object to the settlement if you don’t think it is fair, reasonable, or adequate. You can give reasons why you think the Court should not approve it. The Court will consider your views.

To object, you must send a letter stating that you object to the settlement. Your objection must include:

A written statement of objections, as well as the specific reason(s), if any, for each objection, including any legal or factual support you wish to bring to the Court’s attention;

Any evidence or other information you wish to introduce in support of the objections;

A statement of whether you or your counsel intends to appear and argue at the Final Approval Hearing; and

Evidence or other information showing you are a member of the Settlement Class.

If you hire a lawyer to represent you in preparing a written objection or appearing at the Final Approval Hearing, your counsel must provide additional information as specified in the Preliminary Approval Order (available on this Website).

Mail the Objection to these three different places, postmarked no later than July 31, 2015:

Answer:

Objecting is simply telling the Court that you don’t like something about the settlement. You can object to the benefits provided by the settlement or other terms of the settlement only if you stay in the Settlement Class. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you don’t want to be included in the settlement. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object to the settlement and related releases because the settlement no longer affects you.

Answer:

The Court held the a Final Approval Hearing at 10:00 a.m. on November 10, 2015, in Courtroom 7D of Judge Paul A. Magnuson of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, located at 734 Federal Building, 316 North Robert Street, St. Paul, MN 55101.

On November 17, 2015, the Court granted Plaintiffs’ Motion for Approval of Settlement but payments for claims can only be made after any appeals are resolved and claims are finalized. At this time, we do not yet know if there will be any appeals and how long it will take before we can begin paying claims. Please be patient and refer to the website for updates.

Answer:

No. Settlement Class Counsel will answer questions the Court may have. You are welcome, however, to come at your own expense. If you submit a written objection, you don’t have to come to Court to talk about it. As long as you submitted your written objection on time, the Court will consider it. You may also pay your own lawyer to attend, but it’s not necessary.

Answer:

If you are a Settlement Class Member and do nothing, you will not get any payments from this settlement. And, unless you exclude yourself, you will not be able to start a lawsuit or be part of any other lawsuit against Target about the claims in this case, ever again.

Answer:

This notice summarizes the settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement itself. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement on this Website or from the Settlement Administrator by calling toll-free 1-866-680-5931 beginning in late April, or writing to Settlement Administrator at Target Data Breach Settlement, P.O. Box 2239, Faribault, MN 55021-1639. The status of the settlement, any appeals, any claims made, and the date of payments will be posted on this Website. Please do not contact the Court with questions about the settlement.

Disclaimer

This site is not operated by Target Corporation. This Settlement is supervised by the Court and is administered by a claims administration firm that handles all aspects of claims processing.